This invention relates generally to the use of ceramic matrix composite (CMC) liners in a gas turbine engine combustor and more particularly, to the mounting of such CMC liners to a support member of the combustor so as to accommodate differences in radial, circumferential, and axial growth.
Advanced gas turbine engine development use certain ceramic materials having a higher temperature capability than the metallic type materials currently in use for high temperature applications such as combustor liners. One specific class of such non-metallic low thermal expansion materials is ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials which can operate at significantly higher temperatures than metals and would allow reduced cooling requirements that can be translated into increased engine efficiency and output. With its higher temperature capability, CMC materials greatly reduce the required cooling effectiveness and can simultaneously allow a reduction in the combustor pressure drop by deleting convection cooling enhancement features called turbulators. Using CMC material for the combustor liner facilitates increasing the net power output of gas turbine. However, to realize the benefit of operating the CMC liner material at higher temperatures there is a need for new methods of mounting CMC liners that can accommodate the low coefficient of thermal expansion of the CMC material, as well as the relatively low strain to failure of CMCs relative to conventional metallic materials.